New Delhi, June 14 -- a working visit, a full bilateral agenda, a wreath to be laid at the Victory Monument. What was not routine was what Moscow had said about Belarus the day before.

On June 13, Russia's Foreign Ministry published a statement, timed explicitly to the eve of this trip, declaring that tactical nuclear weapons deployed on Belarusian territory "reliably shield the western frontiers of the Union State and the CSTO, ensuring a counterbalance to neo-Nazi Ukraine and NATO forces stationed in neighboring countries." The statement did not describe a security arrangement under review. It described one already in place, already legally anchored, and already extended through an agreement that entered into force in March 2025.

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